Jaume Guardiola, new president of the Cercle d

Jaume Guardiola, former CEO of Banc Sabadell, has been elected the new president of the Cercle d'Economia after beating Rosa Cañadas in the entity's first elections since its foundation in 1958, held this Tuesday: he obtained 630 votes against his rival, who he obtained 243.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
12 July 2022 Tuesday 13:13
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Jaume Guardiola, new president of the Cercle d

Jaume Guardiola, former CEO of Banc Sabadell, has been elected the new president of the Cercle d'Economia after beating Rosa Cañadas in the entity's first elections since its foundation in 1958, held this Tuesday: he obtained 630 votes against his rival, who he obtained 243. Guardiola led the continuation candidacy and will take over from Javier Faus, whose board he was a member of.

Guardiola had the support of the majority of the now former board and presented in the guarantees the support of almost half of the 1,250 partners.

The former banker has 16 former members on his list, while another four are new recruits, with a significant weight of large corporations and a balance between men and women. Among the most prominent are Clara Campàs (Asabys), Rita Almela (101 Ventures), Pol Morillas (Cidob), Teresa García-Milà (Barcelona GSE), Núria Cabutí (Penguin Random House Grup Editorial), Carmina Ganyet (Colonial), Oriol Aspachs (CaixaBank Research), Marc Puig (Puig) and Miguel Trías Sagnier (Cuatrecasas).

Regarding his project, in the debate held last week between the candidates, Guardiola reviewed his proposals for the Cercle. Betting on more continuity than rupture, he promised to "preserve, update and enhance the legacy" of the entity. In any case, he does not save on proposals for change: closer to civil society, more participation of the partners in "the construction of the Cercle's thinking" and some "brave" opinion notes. From the outside, he challenged the authorities to make a policy that does not look only from Madrid, Catalonia regaining weight after the years of process. And he has acknowledged that he will seek more presence at a European level, with "the highest possible voice in Europe."

Regarding the future of the annual Cercle conference, which Faus took from Sitges to Barcelona, ​​Guardiola is committed to maintaining the format and celebrating it in the capital.